MELBOURNE, Ky. — A northern Kentucky farm gives away thousands of pounds of food each year to local food pantries thanks to help from volunteers, and owners who say they’re committed to their community.
Fresh vegetables growing at the Giving Fields like zucchini, okra and bell peppers will eventually end up on the plates of hungry families. But first they need to be harvested, and there are plenty of volunteers at the farm willing to do just that.
Many of them work at the food pantries the produce will be shipped to.
“Just for volunteering we get as much food as we want, and that helps our budget tremendously,” said Chuck Grone, director of St. Paul’s Food Pantry.
Before there were any tomatoes, jalapenos or eggplants there, it was just excess land on Doug Bray’s property. A visit he made to a pantry in Covington changed his perspective.
“Most of the food in the pantries was canned goods, high sodium and a lot of people that had diabetes and they preferred fresh food, and that’s really what got us into this,” Bray said.
Thus, the Giving Fields came to be. Bray and his wife hope to give away 15,000 pounds of food this year.
“We’re very committed to our community. And we felt this was a way of involving our community and giving back to the local pantries,” Bray said.
Assistant Farm Manager Brooke Meyer, who’s also studying biology at Western Kentucky University, caught on quickly under Bray’s tutelage when she came to the farm.
“It seemed like such a cool project, and I was home for the summer, so I wanted to get involved in something. So I shot them an email and connected with Doug,” Meyer said. “I’ve been leading harvest with our volunteer groups, and I also do more of the behind the scenes online stuff with coordinating pickups and deliveries.”
Meyer played an important role in helping reach the farm’s goals, right up until her last day on Aug. 8 before heading back to school.
“There’s something about being outside and doing hands on that’s very fulfilling,” Meyer said. “There’s a lot of food insecurity. There’s also a lot of lack of fresh produce in people’s diets. Because that’s really hard to get your hands on. And it’s honestly pretty expensive too. So being able to provide high quality fresh produce to the rest of the community has been a really great way to get involved and kind of help out.”
The farm also features a row rental program, which provides space for community members to grow their own produce. This supplements the mission of the farm.
Bray said the Giving Fields utilizes a state-of-the-art water system.
“There are electronic timers here. And we can monitor, we can change. If we get rain, we can cut it off,” he said.
It’s been a hot and dry season, which hasn’t been ideal for output. But the Giving Fields is still sending boxes upon boxes of food to pantries, which will go a long way toward fighting hunger.
Anyone who wants to get involved with volunteering for the Giving Fields, or check out the row rental program, can visit the farm’s website.